Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Name's Joe .

Once upon a time there was a man called Joe
The name's Joe , He said to everyone, 'Average Joe'
What was truly unique about Average Joe was that he was truly average.
There was not single trait of his that was unique.
He was as average as anyone could be, impossibly average.
Unfortunately, everything was about to be changed.
Average Joe fell into the hands of an evil  media corporation(Are there any non-evil corporations?).They were ecstatic.
They had struck  oil in a gold mine.
No longer did they have to rely on market surveys and demographics and mind numbing data crunched out by statisticians.
They just had to ask Joe.
Because what was unique about joe was that he was average.

Hey Joe, what do like in a toothpaste ? Do you prefer minty freshness or sparkling white teeth ?
And Joe told them.

Hey Joe, how many times do you have sex last week?What positions do you prefer ?
And Joe told them.

Hey Joe,which colour suits this car better,pearl or oxblood ?
And Joe told them.

And what Joe told them was what the average joe wanted
.
Joe was truly the man of the masses.
He was the reflection of the society.
He was a walking goldmine of advertising data.
Thanks to Joe  many data analysis software became obsolete.
Number crunching was dead.
Market surveys were dead.
Statistics were dead.

The Name's Joe.
Just ask Joe.

All the unemployed statisticians were furious that an Average Joe had the temerity to steal their jobs and render them jobless.So they formed a secret cabal, an unholy nexus of statisticians that was intent on killing Joe and creating a new world order.(Of course their primary objective was to kill Joe , but creating a new world order solely run by statisticians seemed like a good idea too !)
They called themselves the Surly Statisticians or the 'SS'.

Statisticians did what they did best.
They calculated that he was ninety nine percent more likely to be killed by a car crash than win a lottery.
They also asked Joe.

Hey Joe, what do you think is more likely, you winning the lottery or being served to the homeless as roadkill ?
And Joe told them.

So they bought him a rigged lottery ticket, hoping that he would be killed when he tried to cash it.
That never happened.
Instead Joe ,like everyone else , forgot about the ticket, and lost it.
Joe was safe.
At least for now.

The SS was angry. No actually they were surly that their best laid plans went bust.

This is what led to the eventual downfall of Average Joe
Average Joe was getting rich thanks to  his hefty paychecks (from his work as a media consultant).
Average Joe was rich.

The SS began to notice that Joe was spewing out incorrect data.
Soon the quality of his information degraded to a point where it was labeled as a mere speculative opinion.
This was bad news.
                             Opinions were like assholes.Everybody had one.And a lot of shit came out of it.
Now everybody in the media business knew that Joe was no longer useful if what he gave was only opinions full of shit.
Poor Joe.
Average Joe was out.
The SS no longer wanted to kill Joe.

This is what led to the eventual downfall of Average Joe.
Average Joe was getting richer and falling farther away from the median.
He had ceased to be average.
He was no longer Average Joe.

He was Joe.
Just Joe.

Just another dude with plenty of opinions about the world.
 Opinions are like assholes...You probably have heard this before.
But at least the Surly Statisticians were relieved .
Within a few weeks all of them got their jobs back.
And Joe ?
Who cares.
He was no longer average.
He was unique just like the rest of us.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Book Club

Books I've read in after joining the ship.

Fight Club-Chuck Palahniuk (cult classic at its best)

Kurt Vonnegut(He's a genius par none)

Breakfast of Champions
Cat's cradle

Haruki Murakami-Norwegian Wood

Neil Gaiman(One of my favourite writers)

Anansi Boys
Stardust
Snow, glass, apples
Good Omens

The Bleachers-John Grisham(What ?No Lawyers ?)

The Cell-Stephen King(King is good)

Dan Brown(Once you read one of his books you understand his formulaic plot and can well anticipate the twists and turns.Yet very informative and well paced)

Angels and Demons
Digital Fortress.

Indian Authors.

The Alchemy of desire -Tarun Tejpal(One of the best books I've read in the last four months.)

Q & A-Vikas Swarup

The Inheritance of loss-(A book that makes you sad.Well written)

Shalimar the clown-Salman Rushdie.His prose soars all over .

Age of Shiva-Manil Suri(A heavy meticulous book.Well written)

English August-I don't know why this book is touted as a good book.I                           didn't find it that good.
God of Small Things-Bah ! Give an author an award and suddenly                                     everybody thinks that the author is good.

Also read comics - the classic Death and resurrection of Superman                              series and Wolverine -The End and Fantastic Four                              -The end.

Non Fiction

Physics of Superheroes-James Kakalios(A Fun book written by a                                    physics professor that discusses the gravitational pull of planet krypton or the tensile     strength of spidey's web )

The Brainwashing manual-The same author went on to start                               Scientology.Scary !

Acting for film-To improve my body language.

Concept rich mathematics-Not at all helpful.Do not waste your time reading this.

George Leonard-Mastery-Important book to read if you want to                                           understand the pitfalls in the path to mastery.

You are being lied to (The Disinformation guide)-A compilation of                                            articles that try to bring out the truth.
Also try reading  : 50 things you are not supposed to know( 1 & 2)

The God delusion-Richard Dawkins is God.(he'd consider this an insult)

The Master key-Rumored to have inspired Bill gates.

Why do men have nipples - fascinating medical trivia.

Techniques of the professional pickpocket - How does Criss Angel steal wrist watches right off peoples arms ?Read this book.

The body language of Sex,Power and Aggression-Julius Fast- Not very useful in practical situations.

A mens liberation guide to Women-An antifeminist book that goes  overboard with its rhetoric.

How to have a XXX sex life(By the vivid girls)- A glossy overhyped book                                   full of bullshit.Ideal as a conversation piece.

The Three Second Fighter- Practical book on surviving attacks.

As a man thinketh -You've read one , you've read them all.

The Full facts of Cold Reading - Now I am a mind reader.I see good   things happening to you.You will come across great money, but there is peril ahead...Blah blah

Mobile Mentalism - I can guess what card you have chosen.(Hint.Its not the queen of hearts)

Rich dad, Poor dad- Risky real estate, risky ventures are the way to                               money.But you have to be intelligent enough.

The 80/20 Rule -A book on how to apply Pareto's principle in various                       
 aspects of life.

Vagina Monologues- Only feminists can find this book beautiful.
I'm on the other hand, mortified to find out that Women are so fucked up                              
 from inside.Glad to be a man , even if it means I'm called a                          
                         male Chauvinist Pig.

Stumbling upon Happiness -A book not to be missed.

101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens - Using Metaphors in Therapy -                                                           - Good Book.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Dooblay Ontendre

What women say
What women Mean !

I don't think of you in 'that' way.
My goodness, are you ugly and a sexual dud!

 I think of you as a brother! -OR- You remind me of my brother!
 I would consider sex with you to be incest.

The kids were bad today.
Obviously, your genes are defective!

We were both wrong.
 But you were more wrong!

This recipe didn't turn out how I expected.
I burned dinner. Try and complain. I DARE you.

You don't listen to me!
You don't listen to me!

Honey, I HATE to interrupt...
As if you were doing anything more important.

Have you had time to...
Stop what you're doing, get up, and do it RIGHT NOW!

When you get a chance...
Do this immediately!

I hate to nag but...
 I want you to get off the couch now!

Of course I don't mind paying for myself.
Cheap date!

Let's not rush things.
I have other prospects.

I'm not ready to settle down.
 I sure as heck don't want to settle down with YOU!

 I enjoy the single life!
I enjoy not being with YOU!

 I need more space!
 You're becoming undesirable and unattractive.

 I'm focusing on my 'career'.
 My training and studying for my career is extremely boring and tedious yet more exciting then you'll ever be.

Let's just give it some time.
You're not high on my rating list. You're good insurance policy if a better prospect doesn't show up.

I like you, but...
I don't like you at all.

You're not the type of guy I'd date, you're the type of guy I'd marry!
You're sexually a dud. You're not fun to be with. But you are... 'nice'.

Let's Just Be Friends
You'll never see me naked! I'm not attracted to you.

You then say, "No, I have enough friends. Buh-Bye!"

I don't want to ruin our friendship.
 Please continue to remain my girly friend. You make an excellent emotional tampon!

Honesty is very important to me.
Only tell me what I want to hear.

I only like you as a friend.
 I'm not attracted to you.

 You're so manly.
Shave, bathe, discover a thing called S-O-A-P.

Let me check my schedule to see if I'm doing anything.
I have plans. WE do not.

We need...
I want...

Can you call me back? I need to...
I just need an excuse to get off the phone. I didn't want to hurt your feelings so I LIED BLATANTLY TO YOUR FACE. Oh, and have a nice day!

How about you give me YOUR number.
I'll add it to my trophy collection of guy's phone numbers - pathetic guys who want me but I don't want them!

I'm not upset...
I'm upset.

Be romantic and turn out the lights.
I'm not proud of my body.

Do you love me?
I'm going to ask you for something expensive...

Am I fat?
Please tell me I'm beautiful.

I love men who take charge...
Pay the bill, you chump!

 Sure, but I hope you're not disappointed.
 I'm flat chested.

 I'm not that type of girl.
Keep trying. Keep trying.

Don't touch me there!
Touch me there, but I'll stop you a few times first.

Will you respect me in the morning?
You won't tell your friends, right?

 I'm not looking for anyone.
 I'm not looking for anyone LIKE YOU.

We need to talk...
I need to complain!

Do this and you are safe : Nod head, go 'uh huh', smile, repeat.

I need to think about it.
No way.

We have an off and on relationship.
I kept him around until someone BETTER shows up.

Where is this going?
Are we getting married?

No
No

Maybe
No

Let me think about it
No

 I feel like I've known you my entire life!
 Bingo! We have a Bingo! Will someone make sure this prize does not get away from me?

 No
Yes.

Do you have a girlfriend?
You are CUTE! Are you on the market?

Idiot.Thats what all those girls mean when they ask if you have a girlfriend

 You are certainly attentive tonight!
 Is sex ALL you think about?

Do you love me?
Watch me ask for something expensive.

How much do you love me?
I did something you are NOT going to like.

We need to communicate better.
You need to agree with me more.
Smile, nod head, repeat.

I don’t want to ruin our friendship!
Let me continue to tell you about all the guys I’m sleeping with.

 I want HONESTY. No games!
Tell me what I want to hear.


Do what you want.
You’ll pay for it later.

 I don’t remember how much it costs.
I’ll never tell you it cost a fortune.

 Let’s paint the room!
You paint the room, I’m going shopping. Oh, and don’t make a mess.

 Uh huh
Oh, did you say something? Whatever it was, it must not have been important.

No, take out is fine for dinner.
You cheap bastard!

I want a stable future.
 I need to marry a sugar daddy!

You wouldn’t understand.
I don’t even understand, but I’m not going to tell you that.


 So why did you and your ex break up?
 What is wrong with you?

This guy was STARING at me today. He then came over and asked me out…
She wants YOU to ask her out RIGHT NOW!

(It seems she is talking about other guys, but she is actually trying to convey that she is beautiful and desirable. She wants you to see that because she wants you to ask her out NOW.I used to get irritated when this girl used to do this to me all the time.Only later I realized what she was actually conveying. Well I see girls going  "Well , Duh !")

What do you think of [insert girl’s name]? What do you think about that girl [insert another girl’s name?
Do I have competition?

I don’t want a boyfriend now.
 I don’t want YOU as my boyfriend.

 I don’t know. What do YOU want to do?
I can’t BELIEVE you have nothing planned. !

I’m picky!
There are no dating prospects here!

 I’m VERY picky!
I’m a religious virgin girl, still under the umbrella of her parents, and demand perfection.

 Maybe [insert old woman] thought you were hot!
You are what is hot.

 This apartment is SO inconvenient!
I want a new apartment.

 I want new furniture.
I want new furniture, carpeting, curtains, wallpaper…

I heard a noise!
 I noticed you were asleep.

I’ll be ready in a minute.
Sit back, kick off the shoes, and find a good show.

My ex…
I’m still in love with my ex-boyfriend.

 I like you, but…
I don’t like you.

It is a ‘Girl’s Night’ tonight!
 We’re going to get sloppy and make fun of you and your friends.

 It’s OK
It’s NOT OK.


 I need space.
…without YOU in it.

I AM NOT YELLING!
This is important.

 Nothing is wrong.
Everything is wrong.

 I DON’T want to talk about it!
I’m still building evidence against you!

I’m an artist!
 I’m unreliable! And I’m poor.

 I’m affectionate!
I’m possessive! And you’ll always be seen as cheating!

I’m an adventurer.
 I’ve had more lovers than you can imagine.



 I’m seeking friends first.
 I’m trying to live down my reputation as a slut.

I’m mature.
 I won’t let you treat me like a farm animal in bed like my last boyfriend.

 I’m open-minded and outgoing.
 I am desperate and loud.

Are you GAY?
Why won’t you go out with me or anyone?

I weel dreenk your blaad !

How does one walk against gale force winds at sea ?
Watch and learn.
First , you grit your teeth.(like this)
Then you clench your jaw(like this)
Now muster up the most manly expression on your salt chapped leathery mug ,replete with a masculine grimace of masochistc pleasurepain (like this)
Now you are ready .
The rest is really simple.
Pray to whoever you want to protect you from the gusts of wind that knock you off your feet.Pray that you are not swept crashing  overboard by a giant wave , never to be found again.
Pray once more and hold on to something solid with a rigor mortis grip , and never let go.
And then trudge ahead grudgingly , pushing and fighting against an invisible barrier made out of intangible air, swearing uselessly at the winds for howling past you like screaming banshees out of hell .
It's that easy.
Trust me.
I know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEAK MORTAL FOOL !

HOW DARE YOU EMPTY YOUR INNARDS IN MY PRESENCE ?

Ah ! the perverse pleasure of seeing someone heave and retch and puke his guts out and then gasp for air.

THY WEAKNESS DISGUSTS ME !

I WEEL DREENK YOUR BLAAD ! BWAHAHAHA !

Ah ! the immense feeling of relative superiority you feel at that instant...

Every ship has six degrees of freedom when freely afloat at sea.
They are :- Rolling, pitching , surging, swaying,yawing, heaving.Let us collectively call them rollingpitching for the sake of ease.

A ship undergoes all these six types of motions  when out at sea, in varying degrees of severity depending on the wind , waves and swell.

When the weather goes bad at sea two things happen.
1)The ship rolls and pitches in a degree that is directly proportional to    the inclemency of the weather.
2)People get seasick.

                                              It takes a lot to get a seafarer sick.
Your everyday garden variety rollingpitching will not get him seasick .He is used to that sort of thing.Take the inclemency a notch or two up (Visualise "The Perfect Storm") and then see the fun.

("Sick as a seasick seafarer ,sick as a seasick seafarer".... say that ten times very quickly )

                                     A family of lows(low pressure areas) loom north of us nearly 300 miles away.The resultant effect is huge 20 foot waves and swells relentlessly tossing the ship like a weightless ragdoll.
My colleague, the seasick seafarer, the poor fella , has to keep his navigational watch on bridge for four hours , and the ship is rollingpitching helplessly at the mercy of neptune's fury.
"Vikas , dont talk to me , dont even look at me " he says , looking miserably spent , awfully wasted
"Vikas, dont even look out, I can't ...OOooorrghhh...AAaaaarrgghhh....hwaaaack gaaack"(Thats the best I could capture the sound of retching)
And then he covered his mouth with both his hands and ran towards the nearest toilet to empty out his stomach juices and half digested food .
Poor guy .
I felt pity & revulsion at the same time.

Me ? I thought ...I'm different.
I belong to the sea as she belongs to me.

Forever , made for each other.

I 've been out at sea since I was an infant(I embarked on my maiden voyage was when I was 3 months old , I'm told, where I was yanked onboard by my hair by the boatswain, when  he nearly lost his grip on me as the ship had unexpectedly rolled at anchor).

       The proof of my seaworthiness in my salty bones and rusty blood  & sea chapped leathery skin (Which I moisturize daily ).
                            In fact , my parents like to remind me every once in a while (much to my embarrassment) that I was conceived out at sea , somewhere near Romania.( No wonder I aIways feel like saying I weeel Dreeenk Your Blaaad ! Bwahahaha !)

                                         Romania ... Dad winks at me repeatedly when he tells his version of the story.The wintery chilly romance (wink , wink), the lonely lonely locales(wink, wink)..., the splendidness of sensual isolation (wink, wink, wink)...  
 DAD ! Stop winking ...I GET IT, I GET IT !
You and mom , mom and you , I GET IT !  
(God ,  don't make me visualize it and be traumatized for the rest of my life)
                     Mom has her own version.She goes into nostalgia mode. Mom's eyes go misty and glaze over.They go blind to the present and open the windows to the past.
                          Memories of the first sight of snow, memories of walking on slippery ice , wearing long johns and layers of sweaters, silly snow boots,slipping and falling hard and laughingcrying at the same time, memories of her first snow fight, the taste of snow...the rambunctiousness and the  warm hospitality of the rosy cheeked romanians,how they liked her bindi, and how they all sang their favourite raj kapoor hindi song...

             Although these shoes are japani...
              this pantaloon englishstani...
             this red hat that is roosi...
             My heart remains hindoostani...
             Phir bhi dil hai hindoostani...
             Phir bhi dil hai hindoostani.

Some memories are meant to be forever.

Perhaps it was their stories that  laid the foundation for my untethered life , my quest to find solace in neptune's abode.
I can only surmise...
             
The proof is in the pudding.
Here's some pudding.
 When the weather goes bad , two things hapen to me
1) If the ship rolls I get sleepy.(possibly due to natal memories of the soothing rocking and rolling)
2)If the ship pitches I get ravenously hungry.(I don't know why).I eat a lot. A  LOT !
Its physics actually.
The free surface effect of an empty tank  is large and potentially destructive.When you fill up the tank with ballast or cargo , the free surface effect becomes nil.
So this is what I do. I fill up my tank of a stomach to its bursting limit when the ship begins its danse macabre of rollingpitching and then watch the sea in her various moods .

                                                           So today , when the ship was rollingpitching , like a big bucking bronco out of control , I just made sure that I had a heavy meal (today we had chinese noodles and biryani) so that I can enjoy the ride for the next four hours.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I up and realized the malleable nature of dreams...the subtle ways in which they are altered by external factors.
The ship was rollingpitching violently , shudderring and groaning and fluttering in the most  unhuman ways, and there I was asleep and dreaming  and knowing that I was dreaming (it's called lucid dreaming dumbo !)
As the ship pitched violently , In my dream our ship had capsized (Much like in the movie posiedon) and I noted sadly that I did not panic.My first reaction as the ship capsized was to grab a lifejacket and head for high ground , in a totally calm and detached manner.
What was weird was , I always thought I'd panic in such situations, maybe even shit in my pants.I don't.I'm surprised .I'm impressed.

I guess I don't really know myself as well as I think I do.
But then , who really does ?

Nimath(english science fiction)

Nimath (n) : The events that take place after the end.

The last entry from the journal of Dr.Conrad Paguntalan Jr :-

One word keeps repeating itself in my head these days "Nimath"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever noticed
              the antinomy
                                 in the dichotomy
That as days drag on
                          weeks fly past ,
Months trudge ahead
                         as years flit away
And when we say
                       that  times have changed,
        it is we
                   who have changed the most ?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Is it normal that
      sometimes I feel like
                           A Fraud
                                A Fake
                 A Grand deciever
    caught in a giant sticky web
                        of self deception,
                                     A pretender
                   keeping a farcial facade
                                  in a parody of life ?

                                               Or that  I
                         Issue open challenges
              to the powers that might be
                                   to smite me,
     Make me cease from existence
                                       Curious ,
                                 Just to see,
               If it makes any sense
                             and if at all
                   any difference ?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nimath
the glassy glazed emptiness
Mapthaput
The sheer ridiculousness
nikhatborat
all these jactitatious perversions
cabigayongahindiapo
tubbatha boholified prostation of  everyone
antipode of the ultimate
nimath the only path
nimath the nilpotent
nimath the nihil
nimath the vacuous void
Its all nimath
there's nothing beyond
nothing above,
below ,ahead or behind
Nimath

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(sidenote)
It is a well known fact that Dr Conrad Paguntalan Jr. the  eminent physicist and nobel laureate  commited suicide on 20/11/2184 by consuming 1nanogram of antimatter.It was also well known (atleast among the scientific community) that he was on the verge of a groundbreaking discovery , the final nail in the coffin of the Grand Unified Theory.
What he had managed to do, in layman's terms , was to look into ,through and beyond a singularity , or more commonly known  as a black hole .
What he found beyond , or what he made out of it is not known at this time , but it is widely believed that he had coined a term 'Nimath' for what he saw beyond the impossible.
Since this was the last journal entry was found beside his deceased body , we can conclude that this was his suicide note .
The unusual use of verse with compound Anglo-saxon and south east asian idiom  might hold the key to uncovering the secrets that he left behind (for unfortunately he had destroyed his experiment logs and all other journals.)
We as fellow scientists will endeavour our best to uncover what Dr.Paguntalan discovered but refused to share with the rest of the world( for whatever reasons .)
The world will sorely miss the sheer intellect of Dr.Paguntalan.
The scientific community will miss the genius scientific revolutionary.
I miss my best friend .
Goodbye Conrad,
May you find peace in Nimath.
(and yes Conrad , I'm the monkey , not you )

p.s.
Nimath (n) : The events that take place after the end.
(This is the best I could define nimath with the limited intellect that I possess)

Further reading :
What is a singularity ?
                                        In Physics and Mathematics, singularity is defined as a point at which a complex function is undefined because it is neither differentiable nor single-valued while the function is defined in every neighbourhood of the point. Specifically, a quantity which approaches infinity as another parameter goes to zero. Like 1/x when x approaches zero. In astronomy, singularity is a hypothetical region in space in which gravitational forces cause matter to be infinitely compressed and space and time to become infinitely distorted.

Do Not, I warn You.

Do not try to get into a woman's head. I've done so and I've wasted countless time in the process. Women are meant to be loved, not understood. If you understand them, you can never love them. So choose to love them; it's a happier life than that of a dried up philosopher.
This is what happened to me.
I remember the exact moment I fell out of love.
It was when I finally figured her out.I never thought it was possible , but I saw through her defenses.I had finally cracked the puzzle , opened the gordian knot, found what she was actually made of , what she wanted , what she didn't - the truth and not the lies that she fed herself and others.They were primal needs and desires masked by layers of sophistication, but the layers were all peeled away.
In doing so , the spell broke and I came out of the thrall, and I saw her for who she really was.She was no longer as beautiful as I told her she was, not as smart as I thought she was, no longer sexy.
In other words she was no longer worth pursuing.And so I stopped.
I was disappointed in myself , because she really had not changed.She remained the same.It was my perception that had infinitely changed.I could now quantify and predict her actions and reactions  passively like a teacher dissecting and frog and observing its innards.
In the end , I had failed myself by falling out of love once again.

Love isn't a decision. It's a feeling. If we could decide who we loved, it would be much simpler, but much less magical. - Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Imaginary

"I'm writing this new story in which the hero shaves off his pubic hair"

"But"

"Hush ! I'm talking.For many days his dick..."

"Penis !"

"Penis , dick,whatever looks entirely alien to him.Not that he hasn't seen aliens , but his dick looks like a hybrid chimera of a baby elephant trunk and a  turkey neck with wattles"

"But"

"I'm still talking.
So , He is very proud of his new accomplishment.Everyday he stands in front of the mirror and jumps up and down.He imagines that he is now a porn star like TT Boy or Peter North who have steel peckers that can ram endlessly into any orifice"

"But"

"Okay , go ahead, but you are very rude to be interrupting me this way "

"But , I thought angels didn't have any .."

"That's where you are wrong.Angels were built with precision and perfection.God did not build us out of his own image.That's a fallacy.In fact God first built the angels, sort of prototypes, who were perfect in every way .They have all the organs in perfect proportions"

"Hey ! I once saw about an angel with eight vaginas in HBO"

"Shut Up ! There are no angels with eight vaginas.After all we are talking about god here.He's not some mad scientist "

"But, I've heard of these girls in thailand with 'Vagina Dentata'.You know teeth inside their...you know what ...they can slice cucumbers, break razor blades and reduce cigars to mere stubs in three puffs with their you know whats.
                                                     Hey ! I remember a joke once I heard a friend say.You know , there is this man who is convinced of that his wifey's you know what has teeth and they will bite his thingie off if he tried to ...you know...consumnate his marriage and "

"Shut up ! How dare you utter vile jokes ! You are angering the Gods"

"But I thought you were an atheist that you don't believe in god "

"Hush,even  the great French mathematician Blaise Pascal reckoned that, however long the odds against God's existence might be, there is an even larger asymmetry in the penalty for guessing wrong. You'd better believe in God, because if you are right you stand to gain eternal
bliss and if you are wrong it won't make any difference anyway. On the other hand, if you don't believe in God and you turn out to be
wrong you get eternal damnation, whereas if you are right it makes no difference. On the face of it the decision is a no-brainer. So I have decided to Believe in God."

"So now you are a coward like Pascal"

"No there is more proof.Remember  the old man in Aldous Huxley's Point Counter Point who discovered a mathematical proof of the
existence of God.You know the formula, m over nought equals infinity, m being any positive number? Well, why not reduce the
equation to a simpler form by multiplying both sides by nought. In which case you have m equals infinity times
nought. That is to say that a positive number is the product of zero and infinity. Doesn't that demonstrate the
creation of the universe by an infinite power out of nothing?
Doesn't it? Doesn't It ?"

"Your'e losing it dude"

"Not really.We have from times immemorial attributed godlike qualities to often inanimate or intangible agents and sometimes counterintuitively to inferior animals.
J. Anderson Thomson, from his perspective as an evolutionary psychiatrist, points  to an
additional reason, the psychological bias that we all have towards personifying inanimate objects as agents. As Thomson says, we are
more inclined to mistake a shadow for a burglar than a burglar for a shadow. A false positive might be a waste of time. A false negative
could be fatal. He suggested that, in our ancestral past, our greatest challenge in our environment came from each other.
'The legacy of that is the default assumption, often fear, of human intention. We have a great deal of difficulty seeing anything
other than human causation.' We naturally generalized that to divine intention.We need god to cover up our basic inabilities in many areas .
Inability to understand the universe, inability to predict the outcome , inability to predict the future,inability to fight with the elements etc etc."

"We also need someone to relate to .Someone almost human , yet divine.Carl Sagan put it well: '. . . if by "God" one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly thereis such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying . . . it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity."


"Okay , you convinced me .I too have decided to believe in god.So tell me more about your angel"

"Okay , now if you know a little about catholic mythology we have the four Choirs of Angelic Hosts, arrayed in nine orders: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues,Powers, Principalities, Archangels (heads of all hosts), and just plain old Angels, including our closest friends, the ever-watchful
Guardian Angels. What impresses me about Catholic mythology is partly its tasteless kitsch but mostly the airy nonchalance with
which these people make up the details as they go along. It is just shamelessly invented.

                            So my angel is a non-union angel.He is not affliliated with any god or religion.He is a loosley theistic angel.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's remind ourselves of the terminology. A theist believes in a supernatural intelligence who, in addition to his main work of creating the universe in the first place, is still around to oversee and influence the subsequent fate of his initial creation. In many theistic belief systems, the deity is intimately involved in human affairs. He
answers prayers; forgives or punishes sins; intervenes in the world by performing miracles; frets about good and bad deeds, and
knows when we do them (or even think of doing them). A deist, too, believes in a supernatural intelligence, but one whose activities
were confined to setting up the laws that govern the universe in the first place. The deist God never intervenes thereafter, and certainly
has no specific interest in human affairs. Pantheists don't believe in a supernatural God at all, but use the word God as a nonsupernatural
synonym for Nature, or for the Universe, or for the lawfulness that governs its workings. Deists differ from theists in
that their God does not answer prayers, is not interested in sins or confessions, does not read our thoughts and does not intervene
with capricious miracles. Deists differ from pantheists in that the deist God is some kind of cosmic intelligence, rather than
the pantheist's metaphoric or poetic synonym for the laws of the universe. Pantheism is sexed-up atheism. Deism is watered-down
theism.So angels have their place only in a theistic realm."

"What else is going on for your angel ?"

"Well , since he isn't associated with any religion , he is free to wear any kind of clothes.He chooses to wear a cowboy outfit  with the usual  ten-gallon, or broad-brimmed hat that shields his head from sun and rain, a kerchief pulled over the lower part of his face which protects it from dust, tight pants faced with leather chaps protect his legs from insects and brush, and boots with high heels prevent his feet from slipping out of the stirrups.He also carries a revolver and a lariat, or lasso, made fast to the saddle horn for roping cattle "

"I guess he calls himself John Wayne "
"Your'e right.God created him with a purpose, but never named him.So instead of having names like azipharael or hypnotael , he decided that John Wayne was much cooler"

"Hey, God did not forget to give him a name.I'm sure"
"Of course,God cannot forget.But he moves in mysterious ways .His mysterious ways have been suitably demonstrated by a hypothesis, which in a sentence explains why his word(gita, bible, koran) do not match with archaelogical proof. Or why dinosaurs are extinct , or why birds can fly "

"Or pigs cannot ! So what is this hypothesis ?"

"I'm coming to that.Let me go off tangent this once.I once had written about Capt.Dhoomketu, a celestial navigator, the master  onboard S.S Chandrayana who met god as  he left the Solar System.
Yes , Capt.Dhoomketu was delighted that God was indeed looking at them , at every one , every second , dealing out justice and destiny to every one .
God was called Rupert Murdoch.
He had a celestial Fox with him which was actually  a giant TV station.His Holiness Rupert Murdoch was the creator,producer and director and distributer of the 'HWEUGGHS UGHA1@KLAREEEJK ' which when translated  properly into any human language simply reads "The Earth Show'.Reality TV was good for business.
It had 6 billion channels and was growing rapidly !
On free channels , one could could watch the usual crap which dealt with lives of celebrities and sportstars , but if you really wanted the juicy tender meat , you could try Pay-per-view.You could choose any human you wanted and would be able to watch his or her life till the end (which was the unfortunate human's death).
Pay-Per-views were expensive* , but the elite and rich preferred a commoner's life to the empty vacuous life of a celebrity.
(* only 34 crudillions per human;Special Vernal Equinox Discount -buy two get one absolutely free ! Hurry Hurry .Offer Valid till stocks last)
Rupert Murdoch had an earthly counterpart , a human manifestation of the heavenly Rupert Murdoch.Earth Rupert Murdoch (henceforth known as ERM ) was the god of small things, viz Earth ,Moon,Mercury ,Venus, Mars (But not the little green men on Mars) and the asteroid belt (which he inetended to crash into earth on a later date) & moons of jupiter.(Capt.Dhoomketu now knew How Murdoch topped the forbes list almost every year)
Celestial Rupert Murdoch  was on the other hand theGod of all the other things within the solar system other than that owned by his subsidiary corporate entity ERM.

"Ha ha .Was that story supposed to be funny ?It bored me to tears.I think that for you everything is a farce."

                                         "Its true.Life is a tragicomical farce.Believe me, thats how it looks like when you are sufficiently detached from it .Kurt Vonnegut was the king of farce. His ' Breakfast of champions' is a perfect example.Once you read it you'll find that Kilgore Trout meets his maker i.e Kurt Vonnegut himself .There are references to shaved beavers and assholes throughout this one hell of a farce majeure.I was sufficiently inspired by his writings to write this angel story."

"Also , my angel masturbates a lot.I'll explain why in the story.(hint: He is trying to live.He is trying to kill himself.)He has different grips ...."

"But what about the God hypothesis ?"

"Oh Yeah , God hypothesis...it is covered in a sentence, but it explains a lot."

"This is it .The God Hypothesis.Write it down somewhere."

"Yeah , Yeah , Go on , tell me "

"Are you sure ?"

"I'm sure "

"Positive ?"

"Tell me the goddamned hypothesis, oops sorry god "

"Ok .Here it is "

"GOD IS INEFFABLE"

"What ?WTF ?Are you kidding me ?You mother#$%$^......."

Read and Weep !

Women tell us that their ideal man is loyal and solid,spiritual, good-humored, romantic, caring and sensitive, and
committed to family values. But if women truly select such men, why are caring, romantic-minded men routinely
dumped for apparent losers and showboat guys who couldn’t care less about the prized women they’re dating?
Every man, of every race, color, creed, height, and financial status, has the same dream: There is a special
person out there. She is beautiful and good, the kind of person who inspires you to your very best, so you can fight
all the battles, right all the wrongs. It’s destiny. There’s a magical moment when you know that she is for you, and you
for her. And then you live happily ever after, with a batch of kids and a house like a small patch of heaven.

Reality, however, is profoundly different from romantic fantasy. Today there are any number of obstacles
standing between you and the woman you are interested in.
There are advantages and disadvantages to every possible factor: appearance, personality, race, height, popularity,
financial status, social status. The list goes on and on with factors people never state openly.(Most of these factors are subconscious)
Have you ever gotten up enough nerve to call or talk to a beautiful, interesting woman only to be completely
rejected for an unknown reason?
It’s not about confidence. Consider one study on race.
Three people-- a white man, an Asian woman, and a Japanese man were seeking romance in Tokyo, so they
posted personal ads seeking romance in the Tokyo Classified Ads, Japan’s largest free circulation publication. Within a
few weeks, the Asian woman received close to two hundred replies to her personal ad, from men of all races. The white
man received about 100 replies from interested Japanese women. The Japanese man received only two replies, both
from men who had mistaken his name for a woman’s name.
So much for the Gaijin Theory !
Another study was done on height. There was an American TV special where a news crew performed a kind of
poll to see how women might view height as a romantic factor. The news crew lined up about 10 men of varying
height, and they put them behind a double mirror, where they could be viewed by a parade of passing women. Because of
the double mirror, the men could see only reflections of themselves, while the women could see each of the men
clearly.
The news crew gave the women false information about each man behind the glass. For example, they told the
women that certain men were doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, writers, and had various occupations. They
even gave the women false personality profiles of the men.
For example, they pretended one man was a good cook who loved kids and enjoyed gardening, while another loved
karate, hated kids, and ate Chinese food a lot.
Then the news crew polled the women. They asked
the women which of the men they would be interested in as possible boyfriends. The results of their poll showed that in
America, the men under 167 cm (i.e. 5 ft. 6 inches) were never chosen as boyfriends, even if they were portrayed as
millionaires with outstanding personalities.(I'm a modest 5 ft 9 inches, i.e I'm five feet tall and nine inches long)
Even when a woman says that she consciouly doesn't have such criteria , subconsciously she will.Some women like bad boys, some like married men, some like them black , some hate black , some are into gays , and some daddy's little girls are looking for a surrogate father figure.
I bet the same goes for men too.
Sadly, there’s an old theory that comes to mind: the more advanced the information technology, the more openly
short height in men and obesity in women are detested.

14 Rules

Fourteen surefire lessons you will come across by
experience :
1. The only person who appreciates your gifts is the person
    who is in love with you anyway, without the gifts.(Corollary:A    
   woman    will always accept your gift regardless of whether she    
   likes you or not)
2. “If he takes two steps forward, don’t trust him because
     he wants something. If he takes two steps back, then he
     didn’t get what he wanted, so he’s now acting like a
     jerk.”(yup , all men want something more from a woman, even if     
      they claim only friendship)
3. The competition is always a jerk.
4. If you’re interested in someone, their best friend and
    confidante secretly has a murderous hatred for you.
5. (Murphy’s Law) On a date, anything that can go wrong,
    will go wrong.
6. Real men don’t make the first move. Women supply the
     hint. Men supply the specifics.
7. Everything goes wrong on a camping trip.
8. No matter who you are, somebody in the world will have
    a crush on you, sometime in your life; the hard part is
     getting yourself to have a crush on them.
9. Flirting does not mean they like you; it means the
    person’s flirting.(Sometimes its only for practice or out of habit)
10. The man always apologizes, even if it’s not his fault.
     (Corollary: A woman will apologise grudgingly...and she will make        
     you pay heavily for making her apologise.Be a man , let it go.)
11. When two people break up, the man sees it as sudden and          
    shocking. The woman sees it as a long chain of events
      ending in a breakup.
12. Men are always interested in the same women as other men are.     
    The rest of the women are backup plans.
13. Women are always interested in the same men as other
       women are. The rest of the men are backup plans.
14. Older girls consider money first and physical attraction
     second.

Stultify

It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept. - Bill Watterson

These days I don't know if I should laugh or cry at myself .
I feel like doing both.
No one is legally allowed to stultify himself.This was the premise from which the novel Catch-22 (and the subsequent phrase)  was born.
                          But I think I'm going crazy...gradually.I never thought I'd be a passive observer in my own ascent to lunacy, but it's happening.

It's those voices in my head(C'mon , don't lie , you  got them too, I can hear them).

No , they aren't speaking in tongues...not yet ,but they have a tendency to speak in accents.

                               These accents range from the lazy texan drawl (howwwdie paardner !) , to ghetto hip hop    (yo !yo ! ma man ! wassup dog ?)  to limey green  irish brogue(that's cricit innit ?) to the silly count dracula faux eurotrash english(I weel dreenk your blaad !) to apu indian accent (Iyyam very sorry , oh dear lord ganesha !)

I'm also in pain.

Physical and mental anguish.

My wisdom tooth erupting in my lower jaw has been the source of a low and continous throbbing pain for the last three days.
It feels like a minor ...uh...uh...dammit , I can't find the word I'm looking for ...uh...oh yeah , right , gottit ...it feels like a mild and continous ...dammit ...I forgot the word again ...uh...it feels like a mild hangover...Yeah , that's what it feels like...a perennial hangover...and I keep prodding my gums with my tongue, trying to pry them away , hoping to make some space for the new wisdom tooth to erupt.

I guess one has to pay for wisdom with some pain.

No pain , no gain , that's what they say...

Hey ! what was I talking about ?

Ah , yes , tis the season to stultify thyself...
But guess what ,
I'm not suffering from insanity.
I'm enjoying every moment of it.

Trust No One

Dear Sir,
             I recently came to know that you don't trust us.
Regardless of your trust , I will discharge my duties and carry out my responsibilities to the fullest extent of my abilities and truthfully abide by all laws that apply to me.
Sir , regarding yourself , I must be brutally honest while I give you some feedback.
                       Your reputation precedes you.Past associations routinely perform your character assasinations using only superlatives.Your lineage , ancestry and parentage are regularly attributed to lower order animals , which I think is insulting to those animals.Your relationships with your family are frequently described to be incestous , vulgar and pederastous.
                                    Plainly speaking , none of my colleagues , or yours , would want to be associated with a man of your stature and history.They would rather
1)Gouge their eyes ( 51 % of the polled chose this option)
2)Scald themselves with molten lava(43 %)
3)Simply spit on you (The rest)

                 Regarding trust, it is an open secret that you routinely and surreptiously record our conversations.It seems that either you trust no one or that you get voyeuristic pleasure out of our mundane conversation.We know of you pathetic attempts of espionage/subterfuge and we humour you.
                  Sir, in my opinion and of others, you are truly an immoral , despicable man with no shred of scruples about you.You are a control freak who has himself  gone out of control.
But, despite you , We as your subordinates , will discharge our duties faithfully and to the best of our abilities.
 And that's a promise we make to ourselves.We salute to integrity and honour.(our's, that is)
                                                             Your Faithfully (I jest here)
                                                              

Metaphor

Once, a famous teacher was returning home from an important lecture he had just delivered to a
group of esteemed colleagues, and was absorbed in the accolades he had received. His route took him
along a beach-side boardwalk where something caught his eye. A young boy on the beach was building the largest and most elaborate sand castle the teacher had ever seen. The child was respectfully
scooping the sand up in his hands, then patting it firmly yet gently into place. He had carefully created
towers and turrets, dug a moat, and raised flags, in total absorption.

When the boy completed his impressive work of art, he rested back on the sand, appearing to
admire his own work. Then, suddenly, he leapt forward, jumped on the castle, smashed it down,
spread it over the sand, and watched as wave after wave washed away any evidence of its existence. It
was as though the castle had never existed.

The teacher was shocked.
What a waste! Why should such an achievement be obliterated? Why would a creator destroy his own work?
He walked across the beach and asked the boy, “Why do youspend so much time and effort building such a huge and elaborate castle only to break it down?”

“My parents have asked me the same question,” confided the boy. “My mother sees something
very symbolic in it, but then that is my mother. She tells me that each grain of sand is like each aspect
of humanity. Together they can form something impressive but, when we forget about our relationships
with others and try to exist like a solitary grain of sand, something is destroyed in much
the same way that I destroy a castle, or that the ocean breaks it up into millions of pieces and disperses
it along the beach.

“My father says it is a way of learning about life. Nothing lasts forever. Like sand castles, everything
is created and destroyed, exists and vanishes, is impermanent. When we appreciate this we can
begin to enjoy the time that we have available. He says that building sand castles is a way that children
intuitively come to learn and understand these important lessons of life.

“For me?” asked the boy. “For me, I am just playing. I just want to enjoy what I am doing and
have fun.”

The lecturer untied his shoelaces and cast aside his footwear. He peeled off his socks and rolled up his trousers. He un-knotted his tie and sat down beside the boy, asking, “May I stay and play with you?


Promise

Here is the truth.
To live is to fight, for this world is but a hurricane of challenges all aimed at you.
If it ever becomes too much, if you get down on your life, you will look for encouragement.
And you will not find it.

Everyone puts on the appearance that they want the best for you, that they want you to succeed.
But in reality, the thing they least want is you to succeed.
They want you to fail!
When you start to change your life, people will notice it.
They will not like it. We all get used to placing people in certain 'categories'. You're showing them that there is more to you than they thought. That instead of letting life define you, you are defining life yourself. You're literally fighting for life and this makes them uncomfortable because they didn't (and once they realize it, they know it is too late!).

 
Endure. For it is the same for 99% of the people, they get grounded up into comformity and become bewildered as their lives become more and more joyless. They will feel threatened by you. You may even want to stop your metamorphosis by how uncomfortable it is to others you knew and even for yourself.
 But those who stop can never realize their dreams and so never can be truly who they are.
The more successful you become in life, the more and more people will despise you. No one despises the innocent Nice Girl who happily takes orders. But everyone envies the one who knows what she wants and takes it.
All your married friends... they want you to fail. They will whisper in your ear that you should do like they did.
All your friends... they want you to fail. They will confer to you that you ought to shrug off these 'ideas' of yours. "Live like us!" they will tell you.
Most people remain static all their lives. They do not change and cannot change. They are basically the same now as they were five years from now.
But YOU are totally different, for now you have improved and refined yourself while they stayed the same in their vaporous habits.

 Imagine they are gathering in a circle around you and your life. They are all taking bets on when you will stop and fail. And when you do, they will let out a sigh of relief and say, "Thank goodness!"

People do not want you to succeed, especially people you've known your entire life. They want you to stay the same or fail.
Their lives can only succeed by seeing you fail.
For nothing can overtake the power of Endurance!
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated failures.
Endurance alone is power ultimate.
You and I have come a long way...
Our journey has just reached the crossroads of tough decisions and some hard ones have to be made.
These decisions will hurt you and your loved ones.
But it is only temporary.
You are in it for the long run.
A life just begun living , with miles to go, many milestones to cross.
So endure.
We are more than the sum of our parts.
We are the sum of our endurance.
And promise me that  we will not let others define us any longer.

Aspire

What are your hobbies ?
Um...er...well...
                    I can't dance ! I say.

She finds it funny and somewhat expected.Women somehow expect men to be bad at dancing.
Hey ! Glad to fit the stereotype !

                                                 Lets hear what other people have to say about my stellar dancing skills :  People have said that when I dance I look like an armless man with an itch up his crotch .
(Take some time to digest that and visualize an armless man with an itch in the crotch.It is not funny.At least not for the armless guy)

                        I've heard one even saying that I dance with all the grace of a thousand one legged scarecrows, and he claims he was putting it mildly.
                            I can sing though .
                                        I sing and I badly play my guitar.People say I'm okay , that I don't make them run screaming in pain (like when I blinded them with my crotch-itch-one-legged-scarecrow dance) ...and then I've broken my wrist once , punching a punching bag filled with sand...
                                            (try sawdust numbnuts !...its what others fill it with !)

 ...and injured my achilles tendon delivering a spinning heel kick to the same punching bag...and in my defense , I was practising karate , or whatever I knew of it.

...Aaaaaaand sometimes I write.

Her  eyes widen imperceptibly.

You a poet ? she asks.

No No , I'm not a poet, I say vehemently denying such an allegation.

                          I say  I write short stories , try to make them funny , add in experiences that might be unique to some people, and basically write stuff that people would like to read to pass their time, but no , I don't write poetry.

Nosirreebob!

(Its better to lie that you don't write poetry than to admit that you write crappy poetry, atleast that's what I think.)

What do you aspire to be ?

I aspire to be an aspiring writer.

I know , I know , it sounds so smart alecky , but that's the truth.

                                          Hey ,I want to keep my day job honey! It's an honest living , and I make decent money and best of all I get to say "Arrr Matey , down the sails and avast those landlubbers ! "

 Now that's a job worth keeping.

Arrrrrr... matey !

I enjoy writing.
Writing's not the way though.At least for me.

Why ?

What I lack is the discipline to complete.

After the initial burst of inspiration , somewhere down the line, everything goes pfft ! like moisture dampening  a cracker fuse.It is almost impossible for me to  continue and complete after the pfft ! point.

The pfft ! point is not something new.Everyone goes through it , but some see through it by the sheer force of their will.

For me though it is hard to sustain enthusiasm for a long time .

But hey , I'm not strangling my dreams by  choosing this life.I write whenever I want to , I sing whenever I want to and ...well I don't punch and kick whenever I want to, because there was this incident involving the drunk longshoreman and the doberman pinscher and...well , I'll tell the rest of the story some other time.

I guess , if I were a writer , I'd churn out stuff like this , just to keep some bank balance.

"Thank you for choosing _ made only from premium quality fresh milk .
 _ comes from happy healthy prime dairy cows living in the cool highlands of East java on one of Asia's most technologically advanced dairy farms.
This milk is prepared using modern automatic milking technology ensuring the quality , freshness and premium fresh milk taste.'

In other words -A COMPLETE SELLOUT .

What a load of crap.
"Happy Healthy prime dairy cows ?"
 Call no cow happy till it has a milking machine sucking it's udder off.
I know ...what a load of ...but that's the kind of writer I'd be if I wanted monetary gains , but by selling my soul.
I can't do that.
So for the time being , let me aspire to be an aspiring writer.